Franklin has done it again! Here is the brand new 2007 Rhinebeck Blogger Bingo web logo. Put this image in your sidebar to show the world . . . well . . . Dolores’ fluffy tattooed butt. (Please don’t hotlink, save the image to your own computer and link to it from there.)

He’s also created a new t-shirt design:

He’s so awesome.

You can purchase Blogger Bingo merchandise in our Cafe Press store. Franklin and I thought it would be good to offer a few things with last year’s logo on it, too, so you’ll see a separate category for that. The “I’m a Square” image has not changed, so if you were a square last year, you can reuse last year’s stuff. Everyone who is a square must display the logo, you can either buy buttons or t-shirts, or you can print out the image and display it. Use this image to print out.

All rules, additional info, and a list of participants can be found on this page. If you’ve already signed up, please check to make sure I’ve added you correctly. If you need me to change anything, let me know! I’ll update the Player List regularly. It may take a few days between the time you sign up and I post you. If it’s been a week and you’re still not posted, let me know.

Members of the press, esteemed colleagues, valued patrons, and the pest control guy in the corner, we welcome you to this momentous occasion. For weeks, all of us at the MOKS have toiled selflessly to improve your museum experience. In fact, Tammy in Accounting actually worked side-by-side with Vito in security on this project. Fear not, we consulted with a contractor and the foreign objects which “somehow” found their way into the foundation will not affect the wall’s structural integrity. Tammy and Vito, I wish I could say the same about yours. But let’s not dwell on the depraved shenanigans of a few, let’s revel in the brand-spankin’ newness of the latest wonder of the museum world.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the grand opening of the Museum of Kitschy Stitches Cafe and Snackatorium!

We’ve put together an amazing menu that we’re sure our visitors will enjoy again and again. In fact, some have said it’s actually better coming up and it was going down. Below are some staff favorites. Gastrointestinally speaking, this is one of our finest crowning achievements.

(Click the images for a neat surprise. I really have been toiling away!)

Hello. My name is Hotdogo Montoya. You grilled my father. Prepare to dine.

It’s great that more and more businesses are starting to jump on the recycling bandwagon. With so much reusable material thrown away every day and the earth’s dwindling resources, at least you can rest assured that botched LASIK surgeries will no longer result in unnecessary waste.

Would you care for as post-consumer Hor D’Oeuvre?

Hey, don’t blame, I’m not the one who left dinner near the salmon spawning tank.

Why so glum, beefy? Someone needs to cram some Prozac into those olive fissures before this meal starts taking hostages.

As you can see, I’ve opened up an Etsy shop! Please peruse all my wares, including this new line of cards called “The Distasteful Gourmet” and another called “Bouffant Beauties”. I’ve also been on a sewing kick, so check out my super-cool baby dresses. More items to come! http://www.mcyarnpants.etsy.com/

I think Blogger Bingo is going to be crazy this year. There are already about 40 people signed up and I just announced it a few days ago. Awesome! Just a reminder that you can use last year’s t-shirts and buttons for identification this year, as well as printouts of the Dolores logo. I will also be reopening the Cafe Press shop in case anyone wants anything. Also, before I forget, if you want me to include your Ravelry name on the list of players, let me know when you sign up! (I’m “yarnpants” over there, by the way.)

I’ll be posting the list of players this weekend so everyone can keep track of the competition. I’m also going to start up a page for sponsors and prize donors. If anyone is interested in donating a prize of any sort, just let me know. Our Official Sponsors will once again be A Craftsman’s Touch and RedMaple Sportswear. I’ll be using David and Mel’s booth as a headquarters of sorts, and I may actually have a few spare books to sign if anyone needs one.

Speaking of Mel, he recently lost a furry friend. I never know what to say besides I’m sorry, but for what it’s worth, I’m sorry, Mel. That’s the big down side of pets. I like to pretend we’ve somehow found four immortals (even though we all know there can be only one), but it’s one of those terrible inevitabilities. They all enjoy the extra hugs I give them when a friend looses a pet, so they don’t seem too worried about it.

On to happier things. So I’ve been neglecting the blog terribly lately, and it’s because I’ve been making stuff. All kinds of stuff. Just call me lil’ Miss Busy Bee. And what have I been making? See for yourself, I’ve done gone an opened an Etsy shop! It started because of an orgiastic eBay binge involving vintage fabric and a now-full pair of dressers. Seriously, Caligula would have been embarrassed by my self-indulgent self-indulgence. Whoopsie. I somehow managed to amass an impressive stash in just two months.

So, because I’ve been smitten with the sewing machine lately, I thought I’d try to earn my keep a little and made some really cute baby dresses for the shop. I also made a bunch of cards using vintage magazine and craft pattern books. It’s been a load of obsessive fun! Check out the Distasteful Gourmet cards, I wrote little funny-ha-has for all of them. You can see some of the items on the right sidebar, below the “Email Me” button.

And believe it or not, I have been knitting, though not very much. I finished one of these and started another:

I love this yarn. A lot. In an almost unnatural way. It’s Dorchester Farms, they’re usually at Rhinebeck. Just sayin’. I mean, look at those stripes winding up the leg. And the stripes within the pink sections? Brilliance. It almost looks like torn strips of striped paper wrapped around the sock. I started the second one and it should be ready for sock weather.

I’ve also been working on this baby blanket for ages. The pattern is from a stitch dictionary that I can’t find at the moment, so I can’t tell you what it is.

It’s kind of what drove me to the sewing machine. The yarn is Debbie Bliss wool/cotton, which I actually really like, but I was using size 5 Denise needles and it was torture. Don’t get me wrong, I love my Denise needles, it’s pretty much all I use for non-sock knitting. But the cords are pretty thick, so when you work with the size 5’s, the difference between the needle and the cord isn’t all that huge. Add that to pinch of cotton and a dash of plastic needles and you’ve got a recipe for despair. I spent so much time forcing the stitches back and forth along the cord, I couldn’t take it any more.

So I was lunching with Miss Kellee one day and telling her of my woes and she said “Sister, get yourself some Knit Picks Options. Seriously.” Then, using the hand without the baby in it, she whipped out a laptop and before I knew it, I was actually purchasing them. She’s good, that Kellee. Dangerous, but good.

And you know what else is good? Knit Picks Options. I made the switch and holy crap, it’s like a whole new blanket. It still doesn’t look like it’s growing, but I fed it almost an entire skein over the weekend and it was a dream to knit. I caught the join unscrewing once, so I need to keep my eye on that, but otherwise, smoooooth.